I DON'T DO THINGS BY HALVES.

2011 is the year I turn 30 and the year I will attempt my first ever Marathon at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon!  Why?  Because I’m not getting any younger and having loved running for my entire life I decided I wanted to have a crack at the ultimate running challenge.

After three months of marathon training, however, I am starting to question whether or not running 42.2km really is the ultimate challenge.  When I tell my friends or people I meet that I am training for a marathon the usual response is ‘Really?’  Followed by a long pause which is accompanied by a blank look. 

Suddenly that hot tingly feeling waves through my body – you know that feeling when realise you have just locked your keys in the car or torn the backside of your pants in public – and I realise what I’m attempting to do is really, really stupid! Did you know that the first person to ever run a marathon died from exhaustion!? I don’t doubt it; I get exhausted scrolling back and forth through the marathon course map.

The problem is this feeling goes away.  I watch some inspirational video on YouTube or come across another running obsessed person who convinces me that a marathon is the best thing I will ever do.  They suggest, and almost persuade me to think, that I might even do more marathons in the future.

My other problem is I don’t like to do things by halves.  If I bother to do something, then I give it my all or it’s not worth the effort in the first place. My theory is that if I give 100 percent and I fail, then at least I will fail spectacularly.

So why did I think that when I committed to doing my first marathon I would be any different?  While most people would probably do some good, hard training sessions and get a good sleep the night before the race, I find it completely necessary to do the following:

1.    Follow the training diary to the absolute letter and feel bad if I only run for 1hour 45mins on a Sunday when I'm meant to do 2 hours.

2.    End up on a television documentary about me doing my first ever marathon.

3.    Talk constantly about running to all my friends, family and work colleagues and hope they are not totally bored of hearing about it before the race even starts.

4.    Put myself through agony every week at the physio (not to mention the cost) to ensure my back holds out for the entire distance.

5.    Very minimal drinking for 6 months in the lead up to the event - again hoping not to bore my friends and family at every social event before the race.

6.    Join every running social network I can to make sure I’m on track with my training (GC Airport Marathon’s Facebook, and runGC are two I can recommend in the lead up to the GC Marathon!)

7.    Spend every day stressing about the fact that I might not make the distance (yes even with all this preparation!)

8.    Set up a Blog to document every excruciating detail of my preparation – once more hoping not to bore my friends, family and readers before the race!

So at this moment in time I am feeling good about my preparations and with my first Blog done, I am in the “Marathon is a great challenge” frame of mind.  Let’s see what the next 16 weeks bring.

Happy running!
Marathon Megs

** Tell me what you think and vote- Marathon: Challenge or Stupidity?